


Puppy Love

by BensCalligraphySet



Series: Fluff Prompts [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Puppies, That's it, but it's literally just a blip, it's reylo + puppies, the hallmark channel brand of fluff, with a hint of angst to make it spicy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BensCalligraphySet/pseuds/BensCalligraphySet
Summary: “Darling,” the stranger says.It’s Rey’s turn to blush. “Excuse me?”He smiles, and theres’s a hint of teasing there. “The dog’s name. It’s Darling. She’s a cockapoo.”Oh. “Oh,” she says, eloquently.“Rey.” She points to herself. “I’m a human.”Ugh.or: the one where Rey doesn’t know whose puppy eyes are more disarming - the dog or Ben’s.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Fluff Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665967
Comments: 91
Kudos: 459
Collections: Galactic Idiots Collection





	Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on several asks I got for the Fluff Ficlet Prompts, all of which requested some kind of reylo + puppies scenario. I hope you don't mind that I mashed them all together. Featuring, in particular, bukaterswanscavenger's idea of Ben knitting bow ties for the puppies. Thank you for the pormpts and I hope you like it!

It’s the barking that gets her attention. 

Rey halts and turns towards the source of the noise, cutting through the throng of people walking through the park. She spots the tiny culprit almost immediately. In a playpen on the grass, tucked safely away from the crowd, two puppies are happily chewing on their plastic toys, while the third — a tiny ball of curly brown fur and floppy ears — sits primly by the edge of the enclosure and stares fixedly at her. 

A sign pinned to the pen reads: “ _ You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it. Adopt a puppy today _ .” 

Something in Rey’s chest tightens. She looks around for the owner but doesn’t see anybody apart from a couple of excitable children cooing at the pups, who end up in tears when they are dragged away by weary parents. 

The puppy is still staring at her with bright, earnest eyes. Rey knows she should leave. Should turn on her heel and walk away, forget all about adorable furballs she has no business wanting to keep. 

Before she can stop herself, she’s making her way to the enclosure, crouching down, and putting her hand up against the fence. The puppy licks her palm, tail wagging vigorously. It tickles. Rey giggles. 

“She likes you.”

The voice is deep, but soft. It startles her and she loses her balance, tipping dangerously to the side. Large, strong hands catch her and steady her before she eats grass. She looks up — and up, and up, and up — and sees a dark-haired stranger with kind eyes and a soft smile. 

“Are you okay?” He asks. 

She attempts a polite, albeit embarrassed smile. “Y-yes. Thank you. I just lost my balance.” 

They seem to realize at the same time that his hands are still wrapped around her arms. Something surprising happens, then — the stranger  _ blushes _ . Rey is oddly charmed. The puppy in the pen whines breaking the tension that had been steadily building between them. The man mumbles a quiet  _ sorry _ and steps away from her. Rey clears her throat. 

“Are you the owner?” 

“I— sort of? I work at the shelter. I come here pretty often to try to find a home for these guys.” The look he gives the dogs playing on the grass is so full of genuine fondness, it tears at Rey’s heartstrings.

The puppy catches her eye again, getting on its hind legs and propping itself against the low fence, begging for attention. “Can I pet it?” She asks. It’s the perfect distraction from the fact that she’s still on the floor, white jeans getting stained to hell, while a very large, handsome stranger stares at her. 

A little dazed, he nods. “Oh, yes. Of course.” 

The pen isn’t very high and Rey can comfortably reach in to pet the dog. It yaps appreciatively, leaning its head against Rey’s hand. Her fur is soft and shiny, a beautiful caramel color. Rey knows nothing about dogs but this one seems to be some kind of cocker breed. 

“Darling,” the stranger says. 

It’s Rey’s turn to blush. “Excuse me?” 

He smiles, and there’s a hint of teasing there. “The dog’s name. It’s Darling. She’s a cockapoo.” 

_ Oh _ . “Oh,” she says, eloquently. 

“Rey.” She points to herself. “I’m a human.” 

_ Ugh _ . 

Amused, Ben chuckles. “Hi, Rey, I’m Ben. Also human.” It’s probably — definitely — ridiculous, but hearing her name fall out of this tall stranger’s very generous lips makes her tempeturate go up a notch. 

Darling nibbles on her finger with sharp, tiny teeth. It doesn’t hurt, but she lets out an involuntary  _ ouch _ . Ben notices and crouches down beside her. Even at the same level, she still has to look up at him, that’s how tall he is. 

“Darling,  _ no _ ,” he reprimands. To Rey, he says, “I’m sorry, she’s at that age. Chews on absolutely everything.” Horror blooms on his face when he realizes what he said and to whom — a potential future owner. “Not that she does that often… I mean, yes, she does chew on some things... she’s a puppy... but she’s actually very well behaved and she-”

“Ben, it’s okay,” Rey interrupts. “I’m betting those two are even worse,” she points at the two other puppies engaged in a tug-of-war over a squeaky toy. 

Ben snorts. “Oh, they are, trust me. Menaces, both of them.” 

The tiny German Shepard looking one gives up its claim on the plastic chicken and chooses instead to attack the other puppy’s ears, growling playfully. Ben sighs. 

“What are their names?” 

“Toil and Trouble.” 

Rey snickers. “Fitting.”

“I thought so. They live up to it daily.”

Just then, her hand brushes against the collar around Darling’s neck and she realizes belatedly that it’s not a collar at all. All three puppies are in fact wearing what looks to be knitted bow ties. 

“Did you make these?” She’s half joking, because the last thing she can imagine this mountain of a man doing is knitting. But then, there’s that blush again, and  _ oh _ . 

“I like to think it helps their chances. Of getting adopted, you know?” 

She wasn’t expecting that, or his candor. “That’s really nice, Ben. They look adorable.” 

“Thank you. It’s just something I do when I have the time.”

“I think it’s wonderful.” 

She hopes her smile is open and sincere enough to get that across. 

This man is full of surprises. Six foot too tall, clad in a black hoodie and black jeans. By everyone’s standards, he should be a little intimidating. And yet his eyes radiate kindness and the way he holds himself is anything but menacing and his touch — Rey can attest to it — is gentle and warm. She can’t figure him out. He’s a puzzle she very much wants to solve.

Meanwhile, Darling has sunk her nails into Rey’s knitted jumper and is actively trying to climb up her arm. She laughs and her heart melts further. 

“You can hold her, if you want.”

She wants to. She really wants to. But there’s real danger that she won’t be able to let go, if she does. 

“You’re the first person she’s taken a liking to. She usually shies away from strangers.”

_ Fuck _ . Rey has to remind herself that she works full-time in a job she loves, a job that requires all her attention and most of her days off. She can’t have a puppy. She  _ can’t _ . 

She does the responsible thing, even though her heart is screaming at her for being an idiot. She stands. 

“I’m sorry Ben, I have to go.” 

He looks disappointed. It stings. It stings a lot. 

“Oh. I thought-” He stops himself. Averts his eyes. “I’m sorry. You probably have a busy day ahead.” 

She doesn’t correct him. Doesn’t tell him that this is actually her first day off in weeks and that she doesn't have any plans at all besides going home to her apartment and watering a plant that is probably more dead than alive at this point. 

“I’ll see you around,” she says before she can change her mind. 

A stranger’s disappointment shouldn’t weigh this heavy on her conscience. And neither should a puppy’s sad, droopy eyes. Darling yaps morosely as Rey walks away and every bark is a knife to the heart. 

.

She goes back the next day.

She can’t help herself. 

She’s scared she’ll get there and find neither the owner nor the puppies, but her fear subsides when she arrives at the park and sees a familiar playpen and its overly large caretaker. Ben’s eyes light up when he notices her. She realizes two things, then: one, he’s even more handsome than she remembered and two, she missed him. 

It’s ridiculous. 

It’s also true. 

Can you miss someone you've only just met?

Darling is a flurry of excitement and Rey can’t deny the happiness she feels knowing that the dog remembers her. She’s scrambling to climb the enclosure and Rey kneels down on the grass to pet her.

“I missed you too, precious,” she coos. “Such a good girl,” she says when the dog rushes to fetch a plushie and bring it to Rey. 

Ben chuckles behind her. “That’s her new toy, she’s very proud of it.” 

“How come nobody has adopted them yet?” Rey asks, even though it kills her to imagine anyone taking Darling home. The thought alone makes her want to reach into the pen and take her into her arms. 

“Two reasons. One is that people don’t want that kind of responsibility.” 

She looks up at him. “And the second?” 

Ben shrugs. “I have a very strict vetting policy.” 

“What are the requirements?” 

He sits down on the grass next to her and her heart lurches in her chest. Fortunately, she’s got both hands full of puppy so she can’t do something stupid, like crawl into his lap. 

“Three very important things. First, no assholes. Second, they have to know that animals aren’t toys. You can’t just put them away when you’re done playing with them. They’re part of the family. For good and bad.” He bends over the fence and picks up Darling, who whines and tries to scramble out of his arms to get to Rey. “Easy, sweetheart.” 

Without warning, he places the puppy in Rey’s arms. 

“Ben!” 

His smile is smug when he says, “Please, I can tell you were dying to do that.” 

He got her there. 

Darling’s tail wags and wags as she climbs Rey like a tree and licks every inch of her face she can reach. Rey’s giggles are loud and high-pitched. She doesn’t remember the last time she felt this carefree, or this happy. Ben’s face is lit up by the most gorgeous, boyish smile — all teeth and dimples and squinty eyes. 

“What’s the other requirement?” Rey asks.

Ben’s eyes dip to where Darling has settled on Rey’s lap, happy to snooze for a bit now that she's comfortably tucked into Rey’s jacket. He looks up at her and his eyes grow softer still. 

“Dogs choose their owners. Not the other way around. I’m here to make sure they go home with whom they’re supposed to.” His tone is warm, gentle, intimate. The rest of the world falls away — it’s just her, the puppy snoring softly on her lap and the man whose kissable lips she wants very badly to have pressed against her own. 

“Why the shelter?” She asks. “What made you want to work there?” 

Ben plucks a couple of treats from one of his pockets and gives them to the dogs in the pen. His hands receive a proper licking in return and he chuckles, scratching behind their ears. 

“My parents were away a lot when I was a kid. I spent most of my time with my nanny and our dog, Chewie. He was my best friend. When the loneliness ate away at me, he was there.” 

It gnaws at Rey’s heart, the way he seems to hunch in on himself while he talks. Her own childhood is a sore subject and she finds a mirror in his pain. 

“I’ve always felt better around animals than people, so I knew what I wanted to do pretty early on. I’m a veterinarian, but I work part-time at the shelter.” 

Ben’s eyes dip to the puppy sleeping on Rey’s lap. “These guys can’t speak for themselves so they need someone to look out for them.” 

Her eyes prickle and she averts her gaze. She’s usually so composed. Rey doesn’t remember the last time she cried, much less in front of someone she just met. But something about Ben makes her walls crumble down every time she’s around him. There’s vulnerability in his words and it’s very disarming for someone like Rey, who makes a habit out of keeping everything close to her chest. She feels like sharing a bit of herself in return. Like giving him a piece of her, something nobody else has, not even her closest friends, with whom she rarely, if ever, talks about her childhood. 

“I was put up for adoption when I was five years old. My parents couldn’t keep me. Didn’t want to, I suppose.” She runs her hand over Darling’s fur, and it’s comforting. Soothing. The warm weight on her lap is steadying and reassuring. It gives her the strength she needs to keep talking. 

“I grew up in the system. Wasn’t the easiest kid… temper issues, you know? At some point, I became too old to be adopted.” Ben’s eyes are understanding and kind. Rey doesn’t feel judged or pitied. She smiles. “But I made it.” 

Ben nods. “Of course you did. You seem like the kind who could do anything she put her mind to.” 

Rey’s cheeks grow warm.  _ God _ , how can this man say stuff like that and expect her not to want to kiss him silly? 

Ben’s eyes focus on something — someone — behind Rey, and his eyes grows cold. 

“How much for the little mutts?” 

Rey turns to look at the owner of the voice. It’s a guy in his thirties, dressed in an expensive suit, with a phone pressed to his ear and a look of arrogance that instantly makes her bristle. 

“Yeah, I’m taking care of it, honey. I found two at the park.” He snaps his fingers at Ben and asks again, “How much?”

Ben stands, crosses his arm and pierces him with a look so cold, so brutal, even Rey can feel the sting of it. “They’re not for sale.” His voice sounds grittier, rougher, deeper than Rey has ever heard it. She doesn’t dwell on the effect it has on her. 

“Everything is for sale, buddy. Just name your price and I’ll get them out of your hands,” the man says, looking down his nose at Ben. 

Rey sees red. She jumps up, careful not to jostle Darling and moves to stand between Ben and the world’s greatest asshole. “Didn’t you hear him? You’re not taking the dogs. Now move along before I break your nose.” 

She can feel the press of Ben’s chest against her back. She didn’t realize she was that close to him. She doesn’t move an inch. 

The man cowers under her stare. “Honey, I’ll have to keep looking,” he says into the phone, backing away from them. He mutters something else under his breath but Rey doesn’t hear it and she doesn’t care. She doesn’t stop scowling until he disappears from sight.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side.” 

Rey whips around, suddenly aware of how close they’re standing. Her eyes drop to the floor. “I… have anger issues. Sometimes.” 

Ben cups her chin and tips it up so their eyes meet. “That’s okay. If you hadn’t stepped in, I probably would have done worse.” Rey doesn’t doubt it, not with the way Ben was looking at him. Still, it’s comforting to know it didn’t put him off. Few people in her life understand her on that level. 

He drops his hand and steps back. Rey misses his touch immediately. 

“Are you taking her?” 

Her arms automatically tighten around Darling.

“Ben… I can’t.”

“She’s yours, Rey. And you’re hers.”

_ We could be each other’s. _ It’s unspoken, but it’s as loud as anything they’ve ever said to each other. It echoes between them. Rey wants more than anything for that to be true. She thinks she can make it happen — she can make time, she can be home more if she has something, someone to be home  _ for _ — but for some reason she can’t make herself take that step. 

“I can’t. I can’t, I’m sorry.”

She hands the dog over to him and refuses to meet his eyes as she grabs her bag and leaves, cheeks wet with tears. 

.

Rey doesn’t sleep. 

She can’t, because she made a mistake. Two, actually. 

She should have kept Darling. She should have kept Ben. 

In the morning, she gets to the park and sprints to where she knows Ben will be. Where she  _ hopes _ he will be. She’s out of breath when she sees him, back turned to her. She looks to the side, to the playpen, and her heart stops dead in her chest when she notices it’s empty. Toil and Trouble aren’t there, fighting over the squeaky plastic chicken. Darling isn’t there, waiting for Rey to pick her up. To take her home. 

“Whe-Where are the puppies?” She sounds mildly hysterical but she doesn’t care. She’s panicking. 

“They were adopted. Nice family, big backyard for them to run in.” His voice is cold. Detached. It breaks her heart. 

“But I… but I came back. For her.”  _ For you _ , she doesn’t say.

“It’s too late.”

“I can’t be,” she whispers. “It can’t be, you said she was mine.” 

He still doesn’t turn. “And then you walked away.”

She shakes her head even though she knows he can’t see her. “I just needed some time. To think. It’s a big decision. But I want her.”  _ I want you _ , she still doesn’t say. 

“How do I know you won’t leave again?” He asks, quietly. 

“She’s mine and I’m hers. We’re each other’s.” Her voice shakes. “You and I. If you want.” 

He turns around, then. In his arms, there’s Darling, sleeping peacefully. 

His smile tells her everything she needs to know. 

She takes them both home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Twitter & Tumblr - I'm @galacticidiots on both!


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